Dump-car.



R. M. ZIMMERMAN- DUMP CAR.

, 1 Patented Dec. 29, 19141A l I B o oo oo o@ oo oo oo ooo@ O OO OO OO OO OO OO OOO@ I:

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` R. M. ZMMERMAN.

DUMP CAR.

ULY 5. 1910. l Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

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ROBERT M. ZIMMERMAN, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNORTO NATIONAL DUMP CAR COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

DUMP-CAR.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 19141.

Application led September 15, 1908, Serial No. 453,205. Renewed July 5, 1910. Serial No. 570,396.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT M. ZIMMER- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Montreal, in the county of Hochelaga, Province of Quebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dump-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in that type of dump cars in which the doors are operated by means of a shaft, or movable side sill, which is supported upon suitable rails beneath the floor of the car and by its coperation with said rails and the under sides of said doors serves to operate them between open and closed position.

My invention has particular reference to the means for holding the door in closed position and preventing its being accidentally opened by the weight of the superimposed load. The means adopted for elfecting this purpose also render it possible to use an improved form of cross girder which combines in itself the function of a transverse support for the car and a supporting rail for the door operating shaft.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a transverse view of a car embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal elevation upon the line A of Figs. 1 and 2.

l/Vhile the invention may be applied to cars having different forms of underframing and carrying their loads either upon the center sills orsides, or partly upon each or wholly upon the sides, 1 have in the drawings illustrated a car in which the load is designed to be carried upon the center sill, the latter consisting of a box girder made up of side plates 1 and top and bottom cover plates 2 and 3.

The parts of the box girder center sill are connected by angles 4.

The sides of the car are sustained by transverse girders consisting of upper tension members 5 and lower compression members 6, these girders being of open construction, thereby leaving a space between the members 5. and 6, wherein the operating shaft 7 is manipulated, the upper surface of the member 6 forming a guide rail therefor.

The members 5 and 6 are attached directly to the box girder center sill and their connection therewith is also reinforced by means of the gusset plates`8, which are connected to the sides of the center sill by means of angles 9.

The upper member 5 is preferably built up with a central plate 10 and angle irons 11 upon the top of which is secured a cover plate 12, which in turn supports the-trans verse stationary floor plates 13.

The dump doors are hinged at their inner edges to the center sill, in the present instance brackets 14: secured to the center sill forming the stationary members of the door hinges.

The lowerI member 6 of the transverse girder is also built up of a central plate 15 reinforced at the top and bottom by angle irons 16, the out-turned flange of the upper angle irons 16 forming the bearing surface with which the door operating shaft 7 cooperates.

The lower member 6 is reinforced by means of braces 18 riveted, respectively, to the gussets 8 and to said lower member. The braces 18 further form a stop limiting the downward movement of the shaft 7, as will more clearly appear hereinafter.

As is usual in cars of this type, the stationary door supporting rail slopes upwardly from the center toward the side of the car and the under sides of the doors are provided with bearing surfaces which incline outwardly from the door from the hinge to the free edge thereof. r1`he inclination of the stationary guide rail and of the bearing surface on the door cause the operating shaft to have a wedging action when moved outwardly, thereby raising the door to its closed position. Unless some special expedient be adopted, the weight of the door and the load thereon will tend to move the shaft downwardly upon the guide rail, and it is one of the purposes of my invention to provide means whereby the weight of the door when closed and its load will have no tendency in this direction. l, therefore, make the bearing surface upon the door angular in form, the apex 20 of the angle lying adjacent the free edge of the door. The bearing surface slopes toward the door upon each side of the point 20, the surface 21, lying toward the hinged edge of the door, operating in conjunction with the shaft 7 and guidev rail 6 to bring about the wedging action above referred to.

Between the apex and the free edge of the door the bearing surface slopes toward the door, as indicated at 22, the inclination of the part 22 of the bearing surface being so arranged that when the door is closed the part 22 of the bearing surface lies parallel to the guide rail 6, this relation of the parts being illustrated at the right-hand of Fig. l. From an analysis of this figure, it will be apparent that as soon as the shaft 7 is moved outwardly beyond the apex 2O of the bearing surface upon the door the weight of the door and its superimposed load will have no tendency lto move the shaft back toward the center of the car, thereby permitting the door to drop. lVhen the shaft 7 is moved beyond the apex :2O of the door bearing surface, the door is completely closed and further movement of the shaft does not alter the position of the door. In other Words, the position of the dumping door is not affected by movements of the shaft within the space outside of the apex of the angle of the door bearing surface, and the weight of the door and load has no tendency when the shaft is within the limits referred to to move the shaft in either direction, but on the contrary, the weight of these parts tends to bind the shaft and hold it stationary.

By making the lower guide rail 6 straight from end to end and securing the locking of the shaft in its outer position by means of the special form of the bearing surface on the door, I am enabled to dispense with a separate door rail and to utilize the lower member of an open transverse girder as the means of supporting the door operating shaft. In this manner I avoid the introduction of eXtra parts in the underframe of the car and at the same time introduce no superfluous metal in the parts customarily employed. It will be obvious, however, that my invention may be used in connection with the independent shaft supporting rails as well as in the structure herein illustrated.

Thetransversely movable door operating shaft 7 may be actuated in any suitable manner. In the present instance I employ a chain 30 secured at one end to the shaft and at the other end to a iixed part of the car near the side thereof. The rotation ofthe shaft causes the chain to wind thereon, thus drawing the shaft up the guide rail and toward the side of the car.

A lever 3l loosely mounted on the shaft at the end of the car and carrying a pawl 32 is designed to cooperate with a star wheel 33 fixed upon the shaft 7 for the purpose of imparting rotation to the shaft.

In order to retain the shaft against downward movement while the door is being closed, I mount on the shaft a casing 34 carrying a pawl 35 which may be thrown into and out of engagement with a second star wheel 36 secured on the shaft 7. The specific construction of the means for rotating the shaft 7 and imparting transverse movement thereto forms no part of my present invention and a detailed description thereof is, therefore, not necessary, asmy invention is equally applicable in connection with any suitable means of moving the shaft transversely of the car, whether by winding a chain thereon, as in the present instance, or bv other means.

I claim:

1. In a car of the class described, a dump door, a door operating shaft, shaft supporting rails beneath the door and inclining upwardly throughout their length toward the free edge thereof, a bearing member secured to the under side of the door, the part of said bearing memberV adjacent the free edge of the door being parallel when the door is closed to said shaft supporting rails, and means for moving the shaft.

2. In a car of the class described, a dump door, a door operating shaft, shaft supporting rails beneath the door and inclining upwardly throughout their length toward the free edge thereof, a bearing member secured tothe under side of the door, the part of said bearing member adjacent the free edge of the door being parallel when the door is closed to said shaft supporting rails, and the remainder of said bearing member sloping upwardly and inwardly toward the hinged edge of said door.

3. In a car of the class described, a dump door hinged at one edge, a bearing member on the under side of said door, said bearing memberinclining downwardly from the free edge of the door and then upwardly toward the hinged edge thereof, a door operating shaft, shaft supporting rails parallel to the downwardly inclined part of said member under the shaft in the closed position of the door, and means for operating said shaft.

4.-, In a car of the class described, a hinged dump door, a bearing member on the under side of said door, a supporting rail secured to fixed parts of the car and inclining upwardly from the hinged edge of the door toward the free edge thereof, and a transversely movable door operating shaft between said door and rail, said bearing member inclining away from the door. and away from its hinged edge toward a point near the free edge thereof and from said point sloping upwardly toward the door.

5. In a car of the class described, a center sill, a transverse beam, said transverse beam comprising an upper member extending to the side of the car and a lower member inclining upwardly from the central part of the car to the side of the car, the upper surface of said lower member constituting a guide rail, an inclined bearing surface on the under sideof said door, the part of said bearing member adjacent the free edge-ofl the door being parallel to said bearing surface when the door is closed, and means for operating said shaft.

6. In a car of the class described, a center sill, a transverse beam, said transverse beam comprising an upper member extending to the side of the car and a lower member inclining upwardly from the central part of the car to the side of the car, the upper surface of said lower member constituting a guide rail, an inclined bearing surface on the under side of said door, the part of said bearing member adjacent the free edge of the door being parallel to said bearing surface when the door is closed, and the remainder of said bearing surface sloping upwardly toward the hinged edge of said door.

7. A car of the class described having a ioor comprising a drop door, a downwardly inclined bearing surface on the under face of the door, an underframe provided with a downwardly inclined bearing surface, the inner parts of said inclined surfaces converging toward the side of the car and the outer parts of said inclined surfaces being parallel when the door is closed, and a movable door operating and supporting device held in supporting position between the parallel parts of said inclined bearing surfaces when the door is closed.

S. A car of the class described having a .floor comprising a series of hinged drop doors, each door being provided with an inclined bearing surface on its under face, an underframe provided with a downwardly inclined bearing surface, the outer parts of said inclined surfaces being parallel when the door is closed, and a movable door operating and supporting shaft held in supporting position between the parallel parts of said inclined bearing surfaces on the doors and underframe when the door is closed.

9. In a car of the class described, a iioor comprising a hinged dump door, and a supporting member for said door mounted on the underframe of the car and having a normal tendency to move from the position in which it supports the door in a closed condition, the door and the underframe being provided with parallel downwardly inclined bearing portions between which portions the supporting member is held in position to hold the door closed.

10. A car of the class described having a ioor comprising a drop door, a downwardly inclined bearing surface on the under face of the door, an underfranie provided with a downwardly inclined bearing surface, and a movable door operating and supporting device held in position between said inclined bearing surfaces in which position said doors are held in a closed condition.

l1. A car of the class described having a floor comprising a series of hinged drop doors, each door being provided with an inclined bearing surface on its under face, an underframe provided with a downwardly inclined bearing surface, and a movable door operating and supporting shaft held in position between said inclined bearing surfaces on the doors and underframe in which position said doors are held in a closed condition.

In testimony whereof, l: have subscribed my name.

ROBERT M. ZIMMERMAN.

Witnesses:

VVINFIELD H. YosT, BRITON O. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing che Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

